USD 490 eNews

The Strategic Planning Survey closed December 13, 2024. The District hosted community forums in January and February. All of the feedback received from the survey, student session, and community forums will be reviewed and used to draft an initial plan as the next step in the process.

Learn more on our district website: https://www.usd490.org/page/strategic-plan

View photos from the community forums on the District Facebook page.

On Feb. 3, 2025, USD 490 elementary teachers across our district came together to discuss power standards, essential outcomes, and important alignment between grades. This work is crucial for everyone to succeed as #PartOfThePride.

The Coutts Museum of Art is hosting their annual Student Art Show Feb. 8 – Mar. 20, 2025, and several USD 490 students will have artwork on display. There were receptions on Feb. 8 and 15 from for artists to go see their work on display.

Congratulations to all of our featured students:

• Taylor Burt
• Hallie Hodges
• Mattie Williams
• Zayley Keplar
• Wren Brown
• Emery Williams
• Noah McVay
• Marissa Cooper
• Lana Taliaferro
• Ranesmae Milbourn
• Decker Dreschler
• Jade Brake

The El Dorado High School JV and Varsity Scholar's Bowl teams placed second in their respective league tournaments on Jan. 29, 2025.

Four El Dorado High School volleyball players received Team Academic Awards from the Kansas Volleyball Association (KVA). Audrina Scott, Kardyn Nielsen, and Ellee Bressler were awarded First Team. Addison Hull received Honorable Mention.

On Saturday, Feb. 1, the El Dorado High School Science Olympiad team traveled to Wichita Heights high school to compete in the Heights Snowball SciOly Invitational. Schools from across the region, and one from Topeka, were present to sharpen skills ahead of the regional competition.

Our students did well in most events, but three events brought back ribbons:

• Helicopter: Jaxson Guthrie (jr.) & Kouper Kennedy (so.), 3rd Place

• Entomology: Steven Porter (sr.) & Chloe Iverson (so.), 2nd Place

• Geologic Mapping: Min Castor (jr.) & Raileigna Erwin (sr.), 1st Place

On Feb. 22, 2025, the El Dorado High School Science Olympiad team traveled to Andover Central High School to compete in the Wichita Area Regional Tournament. It was a successful day for the Wildcats! They earned medals in six events and qualified to compete in the state competition at Wichita State University on Apr. 5.

• Astronomy: Min Castor (jr) and Emma Villa (so), 6th place

• Helicopter: Jaxson Guthrie (jr) and Kacey Milligan (sr), 4th place

• Entomology: Steven Porter (sr) and Chloe Iverson (so), 3rd place

• Bungee Drop: Kacey Milligan (sr) and Jewelsuna Murphy (fr), 2nd place

• Geologic Mapping: Min Castor (jr) and Chole Iverson (so), 1st place

• Electric Vehicle: Kasea Hicks (sr), 1st place

The El Dorado High School girls wrestling team competed in regionals at McPherson on Feb. 14 and 15, 2025. The team placed sixth out of 30 teams, and six wrestlers qualified to compete at the state tournament on Feb. 27 and 28.

Individual results:

• Aryana Vance- 2nd (155)

• Zoey Owens- 3rd (105)

• Kegan Motter- 3rd (110)

• Hannah Gantz- 5th (120)

• Izzy Greer- 5th (235)

• Avery Kroeger- 7th (140)

The El Dorado High School boys wrestling team competed at regionals in Rose Hill on Feb. 22, 2025. Overall, the team placed seventh and four wrestlers qualified to compete at state on Feb. 27 and 28.

• Jax Cornejo- 2nd (126)

• DJ Mitchell- 2nd (157)

• Beau Hall- 4th (175)

• Tristan Busby- 4th (285)

The El Dorado High School boys swim team competed at AVCTL in Hutchinson on Feb. 15, 2025. Brody Todd placed third in the 200 Freestyle and fourth in the 100 Freestyle, qualifying to compete at state in Shawnee Mission on Feb. 21 and 22.

Overall, the team placed seventh and the relay team of Gavin Turner, Lane Eck, Jaydon Shaw, and Brody Todd placed sixth in the 200 Free Relay.

At the state competition, Brody placed 15 in the 200 Freestyle and 20 in the 100 Freestyle.

El Dorado High School winter homecoming royalty candidates demonstrated what it means to be #PartOfThePride by visiting Grandview on Feb. 21, 2025, to spend time mentoring third and fourth graders. They helped with math lessons and played games with the future wildcats while they visited.

Visit the District Facebook page to view photos.

El Dorado High School student Duke Jensen earned I-ratings at both the KSHSAA regional piano festival on Feb. 8 and the state piano festival on Feb. 22, 2025. This is his third year in a row to receive a I-rating at state.

Click here to view a clip of his state performance.

Click here to view a clip of his regional performance.

The El Dorado High School Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) competed in a Students Taking Action with Recognition (STAR) event in Haysville on Feb. 22, 2025. The EHS chapter earned a gold membership award for increasing membership by over 30 percent this school year. Two students earned individual medals.

Visit our website to read more: https://www.usd490.org/article/2046649

The El Dorado High School boys and girls bowling teams competed in the regional tournament at Let's Roll Seneca in Wichita on Feb. 24, 2025.

Madison Busby placed 10th and qualified for state with a series of 426. Overall the boys team placed sixth with a team score of 1942 and the girls team placed fourth with a team score of 1878.

El Dorado Middle School girls wrestlers competed at the Patriot League North tournament in Haysville on Feb. 25, 2025, where they scored 171 points and placed second out of seven teams.

Individual Results:

• Janessy Morales- 1st

• Elise Pefley- 1st

• Bella Wight- 1st

• Naomi Morales- 1st

• Charlee Reese- 1st

• Nikita Mitchell- 2nd

• Lilly Breeden- 3rd

• Austyn Herrmann- 3rd

• Violet Forister- 3rd

Blackmore students celebrated Kansas Day with fun activities like the Pony Express message deliveries, history lessons, and Kansas-themed projects on Jan. 29, 2025.

Visit Blackmore's Facebook page to view a video of some of the activities.

Blackmore celebrated the 100th day of school on Feb. 4, 2025, with a variety of fun 100-themed activities.

Visit Blackmore's Facebook page to view photos.

Blackmore hosted their quarter two VIP attendance celebration on Feb. 11, 2025. Students had the opportunity to earn Bear Bucks for coming to school and being on time. If they saved up 40 Bear Bucks, they could choose to "purchase" a ticket to a VIP Day activity.

Students could choose either a snowball fight with stuffed snowballs in the gym (PreK-2), a dodge ball game (3-5 grades), a dance party, or lunch with Mrs. Arnold.

Visit Blackmore's Facebook page to view photos of the events.

Blackmore fourth graders had the opportunity to see through the lens of the main character, Melody, in their class read-aloud book, Out of My Mind, on Feb. 21, 2025.

In the book, Melody has cerebral palsy which impairs her ability to move freely or speak, but she has a brilliant mind with photographic memory. Mrs. Hadley, the speech-language pathologist at Blackmore, visited students to teach them about Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices and how they can help people overcome communication challenges.

An AAC device is a tool that allows people with speech impairments to communicate by utilizing visual symbols, pictures, or text on a device that can then speak the words aloud. After learning about these devices, students were challenged to make their own communication boards and participate in some fun activities using their boards as their voice.

Visit Blackmore's Facebook page to view photos.

Blackmore and Grandview's Student Leadership Teams visited the Outreach Program on Jan. 30, 2025, to package meals for those in need. Together, the teams packaged over 9,000 meals to help those in need.

Visit Blackmore's Facebook page to view photos.

Visit Grandview's Facebook page to view photos.

Grandview fifth grader Blake Dunbar was named first runner-up at the Butler County Spelling Bee on February 7, 2025.

The county bee lasted for seven rounds. Blake correctly spelled tinge, haberdasher, karma, monopolize, casserole, and anthropology before misspelling realm during round 7 and securing the first runner-up slot.

Other USD 490 representatives who competed at the county spelling bee included the middle school’s Meagan Helmandollar, Blackmore's Riley Austin and Skelly's Lena Mantooth.

The winner of the bee was Samuel Riley from Andover Middle School with the championship word of anxiety. Vidvath Vennavelli from Wheatland Elementary placed third.

The 100th day of school in USD 490 was on Feb. 4, 2025. Grandview's Kindergarten classes celebrated with their annual Construction Day.

Visit Grandview's Facebook page to watch the video.

Grandview's Kindergarten students participated in football-themed learning activities for a day of educational fun on Feb. 7, 2025.

Visit Grandview's Facebook page to view a video of the day's activities.

Grandview students have been using their iPads to learn about creating digital art.

Visit Grandview's Facebook page to view photos.

Each year, the Grandview Kindergarten teachers host a fun-filled tea party to teach students manners, table etiquette, and celebrate Valentine's Day. Students enjoyed live music and Alice in Wonderland-themed treats and activities.

Visit Grandview's Facebook page to view a video.

Skelly students in Mrs. McCormick's class read a combined total of 9,127 minutes in just two weeks in January. Because of their commitment to reading, they were able to hear messages from Atlanta Falcons defensive line Zach Harrison and former Falcon guard Justin Shaffer, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Chris Conley, and ESPN reporter for the New England Patriots Mike Reiss.

On Jan. 28, 2025, Skelly third, fourth, and fifth graders learned about the January character trait of the month: Cooperation.

Working together, students moved a hula hoop around the circle without speaking to each other. The next round, the hula hoop got smaller! In the third round, the circle faced outward, and students did not quite know when the hoop was coming. Some classes even had two hoops at the same time going in opposite directions, which was quite a challenge!

Sometimes life gets challenging, but working together always makes it easier. Students learned how working together can help accomplish their goals.

Visit Skelly's Facebook page to view photos.

To celebrate Kansas Day, students at Skelly created Kansas Day cakes on Jan. 29, 2025. Students labeled the rivers of Kansas and marked the location of Topeka and Dodge City before enjoying their tasty geography lesson.

Visit Skelly's Facebook page to view photos.

On Jan. 29, 2025, Skelly's student leadership team, the Skelly Street Leaders, joined the middle school's peer mentors at The Outreach Program to package over 7,000 meals for families in need.

Visit Skelly's Facebook page to view photos.

Skelly students in Mrs. McCormick's class wrapped up National Football League (NFL) season with a Super Bowl party on Feb. 7, 2025. They read and learned about the first Super Bowl, the Vince Lombardi trophy, Super Bowl commercials, and Super Bowl LIX during their reading and math lessons. They practiced making predictions about who might win the game.

Visit Skelly's Facebook page to view photos.

Skelly Elementary students are spreading kindness in a delicious way! As part of the school-wide Kindness BINGO challenge, Mrs. O’Brien-Ogg’s second-grade class chose to complete a “Choice Project” square. The students voted to “make food for people who don’t have enough,” and on Feb. 21, they worked together to prepare a homemade meal.

Visit our website to read more: https://www.usd490.org/article/2043433

Learn more about Skelly's Kindness Bingo on Skelly's Facebook page.

View other Kindness projects on Skelly's Facebook page.

Public schools provide more than just an academic education. They also provide supports to help students be both mentally and physically healthy and provide opportunities for civic engagement.

EXTEND/PAC: The road construction on Central has extended to Taylor St., which means the Extend/Performing Arts Center can no longer be accessed from Taylor. Please plan to use an alternate route. There are driveways into the parking lot accessible from Denver St. and First Ave.

SKELLY: Beginning Wednesday, March 5, eastbound traffic on Towanda Avenue will be closed from Haverhill Road to Edgemoor Drive. One-way westbound traffic will be maintained through the work zone to accommodate local access. For more information, please visit the City of El Dorado's Facebook page.

Our next ESL Family Night will be Monday, February 10, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center located at 500 West Central Avenue. This month's theme will be Winter Activities for the Family.

Visit the KanCare website to learn more about available family or child medical plans and check your eligibility: https://cssp.kees.ks.gov/apspssp/

USD 490's COVID grant provides FREE at-home COVID test kits for all #PartOfThePride families. You do not have to be sick or sign up to receive these at-home test kits. Just ask your child's school nurse, call Toshia Stephenson at 316-322-4850 or email nltillman@usd490.org and she can send some home for you.

This year's district theme is "Take the Lead." To celebrate this theme, we asked our student leadership teams to tell us who they believe are inspirational, unique, or interesting leaders. Their answers will be featured the first and third Tuesday of each month.

Congratulations to Kaitlyn Perrill, Lane Eck, and Kareena Bhakta for being named Hog Wild Student Athletes of the Week on Feb. 7, 2025.

Congratulations to Hannah Gantz and DJ Mitchell for being named Hog Wild Student Athletes of the Week on Feb. 15, 2025.

This is the district's new unified communication platform. Please download the app to keep connected with what is going on in your child's school.

Apple:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/parentsquare/id908126679

Android:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/detailsid=com.parentsquare.psapp&pcampaignid=web_share

The 1-page calendar for the 2025-2026 school year was approved by the USD 490 Board of Education on Jan. 13, 2025. It is linked below, and is also available on our district website: https://www.usd490.org/page/district-calendars

February 27-28 No School

March 1 KAY Formalwear Giveaway at EHS, 9:00 a.m.

March 2 National Read Across America Day

March 3-7 National School Social Work Week; National School Breakfast Week; Severe Weather Safety Week

March 4 Maintenance Worker Appreciation Day

March 9 Daylight Saving Time Begins

March 14 No School; Staff Development/Workday

March 17-21 No School; Spring Break

March 24 Enrollment for 2025-2026 school year OPENS
March 25 Wildcat Welcome to PreK at PAC, 5:30 p.m.

Email: usd490@usd490.org
Website: www.usd490.org
Location: 124 West Central Avenue, El Dorado, KS, USA
Phone: (316) 322-4800
Facebook: facebook.com/eldorado.schools
X/Twitter: @eldoradousd490